City Council fills vacancy, approves budget

The vacancy on the Bella Vista City Council was filled Monday night when aldermen appointed Doug Fowler.

Fowler was brought in to fill the vacancy in Ward 3 Position 1, essentially starting his term early after winning the seat during this year’s election. His elected term beings Jan. 1.

“It feels great,” he said. “I worked it really hard. This meant a lot, I didn’t just enter on a lark.”

After the council voted to appoint Fowler, Mayor Peter Christie swore him in.

The council also approved the 2017 budget.

Christie has said previously he’d like to get the budget approved in November so the city could get started on some of next year’s plans right away.

“I want to thank all of you very much for all of the input you have provided,” Christie said. “I think we’ll keep the same routine for next year and start a little earlier.”

After some input at the special work session earlier in November, the budget was altered to hire two of the three police officers in August rather than immediately, saving half a year’s wages for each of them and allowing police chief Ken Farmer’s incoming replacement the opportunity to pick some officers himself. Farmer is retiring later this year.

Additionally, Christie said at the Nov. 21 work session, the city was able to factor in more revenue from county taxes and reduce the cost of the new police building.

“We should be able to put at least $250,000 back into the reserve,” Christie said at the work session.

Beyond that, the council also approved a resolution to allow the mayor and city clerk to enter into a contract and purchase a new emergency generator, at a price of $76,283.12, for the Street Department building.

“This is a generator that will keep part of the building going should we have an emergency and lose all electricity,” he said. “But more importantly, it will keep the gas pumps working.”

Christie said that keeping the pumps working is important to keep police and fire vehicles operational during whatever sort of disaster could cause a lengthy power outage. The generator will also allow the building to be heated, he said, ensuring emergency workers have a warm place to stay.

Street superintendent Mike Button said at the Nov. 21 work session that this generator will not fully power and heat the entire structure, but will be able to provide partial power to the building for 48 hours before needing to be refeuled.

The council also tabled a resolution to hire a traffic engineering firm, pending a meeting with the Arkansas Highway Transportation Department to discuss who is ultimately responsible for the light at Benton County

Road 40 and U.S. Highway 71, and what has already been done or can be done to improve flow.

This was in light of some information shared by alderman and former mayor Frank Anderson at the Nov. 21 work session.

While the understanding was that Bella Vista is responsible

for maintaining the software for the light because the control box is just barely in city limits, Anderson said that he believed the AHTD could actually monitor and adjust that light remotely.

“They should be able to fix that Benton County 40 light from Little Rock, the way I understood it,” Anderson said.

Mayor Christie said at the regular meeting that, with this in mind, he is

going to meet with Steve Lawrence, District 9 engineer for the AHTD, and figure out exactly what is in place, who owns what and who is responsible for what.

The council also passed a resolution approving new service fees for ambulance services provided by the Fire Department.

Fire Chief Steve Sims said during the Nov. 21 work session the proposed base rate for an ambulance

trip is $650, and the ride itself would cost $15 per mile.

“We haven’t changed our base rate or our covered miles in 8 years,” Sims said during the work session.

This increase, he said, would bring the department’s charges more in line with current standards, but would still be more affordable for Bella Vista residents than some other services in the area.